Larmes de couteau, H. 169, Knife tears, Czech Slzy nože, is a one-act opera by Bohuslav Martinů to a French libretto by Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes.
[3] Martinů's first opera Voják a tanečnice (Soldier and Dancer) of 1927 was a comic work in three acts, revealing his eclectic theatrical instincts.
As a composer, some of Ribemont-Dessaignes' piano works, written using a roulette wheel, had been heard at a Dadaist performance in the Salle Gaveau.
[3] The work was refused by the Baden-Baden Festival, mainly on account of its text, after which Martinů and Ribemont-Dessaignes immediately began a second collaboration, on Les trois souhaits, which was completed soon after in May 1929.
[5] The orchestration for the 20-minute opera is a 14-piece jazz orchestra consisting of oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, two each of trumpets and trombones, a tam-tam, banjo, piano, two violins, and cello, plus an accordion in the wings.
[2] The premiere took place at the Národní divadlo (national theatre) Brno on 22 October 1969 with Jaroslava Janská (soprano) as Eleonore, Libuše Lesmanová (mezzo) as the mother, and René Tuček (baritone) as Satan; Václav Nosek conducted.
[7] Its British premiere was on 1 May 2007 on a triple bill at The Film Studios, Covent Garden by Second Movement Opera conducted by Nicholas Chalmers.